1
By night when others soundly slept
And hath at once both ease and Rest,
My waking eyes were open kept
And so to lie I found it best.
2
I sought him whom my Soul did Love,
With tears I sought him earnestly.
He bow’d his ear down from Above.
In vain I did not seek or cry.
3
My hungry Soul he fill’d with Good;
He in his Bottle put my tears,
My smarting wounds washt in his blood,
And banisht thence my Doubts and fears.
4
What to my Saviour shall I give
Who freely hath done this for me?
I’ll serve him here whilst I shall live
And Love him to Eternity.
Text from Poetry Foundation.
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This is one of my favorite poems! I just had to compose a hymn melody last week for my Music Theory class, and I used this poem.
I read it out loud to my mom once, and comenting on the words where Our Lord put her tears in a bottle, my mom told me that she knew a very holy woman whose muscles were turning into bone. This woman caught her tears in one of those little dropper/spoons that is sometimes used to make sure that only a drop of water is added to the wine at Mass. She put her tears in a bottle as her offering to Jesus.